College Football Week 9 Preview – West Virginia vs Oklahoma State

OSU Looks to Recover Against Holgorsen-Led West Virginia

By Charles Jay

The West Virginia Mountaineers are one of those teams that has gone wide-open in the Big 12. And at the moment, they really seem to be clicking, as they have achieved national rankings in each of the major polls. On Saturday they will be facing a team that is hurting at the moment, as the Oklahoma State Cowboys are coming of a crushing defeat. These teams meet up in NCAA football betting action that is slated to kick off at 3:30 PM ET in Stillwater.

Last week West Virginia went head-to-head with another explosive team in the Big 12 and came up with its biggest win since joining the conference when it beat Baylor 41-27. OSU had an opportunity to move up in the national rankings and instead got knocked out of the park by TCU 42-9. So these teams went into the week of preparation in different emotional places, to be certain. How will that affect motivational levels?

BetAnySports College Football Betting Line: West Virginia vs Oklahoma State

In the NCAA football odds that have been posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Cowboys are the very slight home favorites:

Oklahoma State Cowboys -1

West Virginia Mountaineers +1

Over/Under 65.5 Points -110

Baylor was the #4 team in the country, so that was a very significant win on the part of WVU. And it is further validation of Clint Trickett as one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. Trickett, a transfer from Florida State, had a rather rough season last year, hitting just 53% of his passes. But he has really grasped coach Dana Holgorsen’s system this year, nailing his passes at a 68% rate with just five interceptions in 289 attempts. He had 322 yards and three touchdowns against Baylor, and there was no reason for him to be intimidated, since he had already faced down nationally-ranked opponents like Alabama and Oklahoma.

As BetAnySports customers know, the Mountaineers, who are #22 in the Associated Press poll and #25 in the Coaches’ poll, have played those two national powers very tough. They served notice of that in the season opener when they gave ‘Bama some headaches in a 33-23 loss. And Oklahoma won a 45-33 decision that was closer than the score indicated.

Trickett’s big connection is with Kevin White, who has had at least 100 yards in every game. White had his first multiple-TD game against Baylor, grabbing eight passes from Trickett for 132 yards.

NCAA football bettors who have followed the Big 12 know that this matchup obviously holds a special place for Holgorsen, who was the offensive coordinator who really opened up OSU’s passing game before moving on to his first head coaching job. Two years ago, as he returned to Stillwater with his team, Holgorsen was beaten by three touchdowns (55-34). But BetAnySports patrons remember that West Virginia get some payback last season in Morgantown, as Trickett assumed the starting position and threw for 309 yards. Things were up and down for him in that game, as they were for the rest of the season. Now maybe these guys are in a better place.

But what about OSU? Mike Gundy’s Cowboys are off an extremely rough outing on both sides of the ball, as they gave up 676 yards to the suddenly high-flying TCU offense, and as Trevane Boykin of the Horned Frogs chalked up a career-high 410 yards, Daxx German was struggling mightily, with ten completions and 132 passing yards. Oklahoma State is thankful that it doesn’t have as stiff a defense to encounter this week, and they are not at all unfamiliar with what Holgorsen does on offense either.

Remember that you will be able to place wagers on this game and others as they are happening, at BetAnySports!

Summary

Article Name

College Football Week 9 - West Virginia vs Oklahoma State

Description

College Football Betting Line - West Virginia vs Oklahoma State, the Cowboys are slight home favorites: Oklahoma State -1, West Virginia +1, O/U 65.5 Pts